Vacuum-sweeper.



F. J. MATGHETTE.

VACUUM SWBEPER.

APPLICATION FILED OUT.12, 1908.

Patented Aug. 13, 1912.

WITNESSES %W/ MIN ATTURNE'YE To all whom it may concern:

Milwa-ukee,

UNITED STATES raga-NT OFFICE.

. FRANK J. MATQHETTE, F MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

. s vAcUUM-swEErEnJ,

. Specification of Letters Patents; Patented-Aug. 13, 1912.

Application filed October 12, 1908. Serial No. 457,215.

I Be it known that I,'FRANK J. Mxrcnnr'rn, a citizen of the United States,

in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vacuum; Sweepers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part thereof.

hemain objects of this inventionare to easily, rapidly and'thoroughly take up and remove dust and dirt from wood,-tile or carpeted floors and other surfaces; to facilit'atethe removal'of dust and dirt from corners and angles between walls and floors and from inaccessible places under furniture or fixtures; to avoid scratching and marring the polished or finished surfaces of floors, walls, fixtures and furniture; and

.generally to simplify and improve the'construction and operation of devices of this 7 class.

construction and in the peculiar arrange.

It consists in certain novel features of ment and combination. of parts: as hereinafter particularly described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing like char- 'acters designate the same or-sunilar parts the tubular handle in the nozzle shank of the sweeper and forming a swivel connection between them; and Fig. 5 1s a plan view of on of the detachable brushes for inwardly inclined dependin which form retaining guides F providing a flexible hooded extension over the open ends of the dust and dirt collecting channel of the sweeper.

' he sweeper comprises a back or bodg a,

which may be conveniently made of s e et metalhaving along its longitudinal edges flanges b or removable .shoes or bearings a on op osite sides of a dust and: dirt collecting ing across-the back on the under slde and en at the to the atmosphere.

annel d extendresiding at- A sheet metal plate e secured by rivets to the under side of the back plate and having outwardly inclined depending marginal flanges 9, forms the top and a part of the sides of said channel and retaining guides for the inner beveled edges of'the shoes or bearings- 0 parallel with their outer beveled edges, which are fitted in:the guides formed by the flangesb. For sweeping wood andtile floors or removing'dust'and dirt from hard walls or polished or finished surfaces,

the shoes or bearings c'are made of or faced h with pads of felt or similar soft material which will not scratch or mar such floors or surfaces. These pads may be glued or cemented -to strips h of 'wood or other suitable material, as shown in Fig. 1, the strips being beveled on their longitudinal edges to fit between and engage with the-flanges or guides b and 9. They are held in place when inserted in said guides by looks or fastenings which may consist of boltsi fitted in sockets formed in th'elbackplate a, and a socket plate 7' attached to the upper side thereof. The stems of these bolts project upwardly through holes in the plate 7' and are provided onthe upper side thereof with washers or heads is which are accessible from the upper side of the sweeper and serve as 'means for thrusting the bolts into holes or sockets in the strips h and withdrawing them therefrom.

For sweeping or removing dust-and dirt from carpets, rugs and the like, th'e padded or soft shoes or bearings'c are replaced, as shown in Fig. 3,'byl shoes 0' of some suitable hard and durable material, such as metal. These shoes or bearings may be conveniently made as shown, of sheet metal having beveled or inclined flanges struck up along their longitudinal edges to fitbetween and engage with the flanges b and you the back plate (1. shoes or bearings of for carpeted floors and These metal or other hard the like, may be held in place in the back 1 orfby other fasteningsa The .plate 7' is formed above and parallel with the channel d with a semi'cylindrical by bolts similar to those shown in Fig. 1,

socket which communicates on the under side through an opening Zwith said channel between and at a distance fromits 0 n ends. In this socket is fitted a cylindrical.

nozzle m which is adapted to rock orpscillate therein, and has-a "flaring ppemng h registering constantly in all positions of the the opening Z.' The nozzle is formed or pro the flaring opening n communicates and which forms a socketifor' the reception of a Q 7 easily and quickly removed from the backtubular handle nforming an exhaust conduit from the nozzle. The handle p-is swiveled and held inthe nozzle shank 0 by means of a diagonally severed elastic-ringg,

which is of normally smaller internal'diameter than the 'external diameter of the tubular handle 70, and which is loosely confined in a flanged sleeve m threaded on the shank tubular handle 79 may be easily attached to -and detached from the sweeper by simply thrusting it into and withdrawing .it'from the elastic expansible ring 9, which grips it about the axisof the tubularfhandle 13 so that the "pads or shoes 0 or 0' will 'bear squarely and evenly on the floor or'surface over which the sweeper is moved, whatever may be the relative'position of the tubular handle which is in practice connected by hose or a flexible pipe with a vacuum pump one end or both ends, and the nozzle which maybe readily inserted and withdrawn therefrom endwise, is held in place-therein by a pin or key 8 inserted in a transverse hole through one end'of the socket and'envided with a tubular shank O with which By means of this swivel coupling the or eXhauster, The nozzle socketis open atgaging an annular'groove in the nozzle, as

shown in Fig. 2.-

. In the operation of" the sweeper the. air draft or current produced and maintained through the nozzle is confined and concentrated by the channel d over a long narrow area of the; floor or surface covered by said channel, the influence or effect of the draft or current extending somewhat beyond the open ends of the channel, so that dust and dirt can be readily and effectively removed from the angles and corners formed by the intersection ofwalls and floors by running the sweeper in close proximity therewith. Toextend'the influence or efiect of the draft or air current at the ends of the sweeper and tomore effectively dislodge and remove dust and dirt from corners andangles in working around the, legs and bases of furniture and fixtures without marring the same, the sweeper may be provided at the ends of the back with brushes extending out wardly and downwardly. therefrom *over the open ends of the channel d. These brushes may consist of any suitable material; but, as shown in Figs. 2- and 5, they are frepresented as made of bristles secured in blocks or plates .u, which are forked and formed with vertical holes so as to he slipped over the ends of the plates a and e, and be sprung into engagement with the rivets noses 72 Tnese-at tachments ican thHS'be re'adiIy-" applied to the sweeper whenjthey are needed and. removed therefromv when they. are not-f needed.

Theo. shoes. I or bearings and 0. being and being interchangeable, the sweeper-can I be readily fitted for operating on carpeted or uncarpeted'floors-or the like, and the soft or padded-shoes 0 can be easily and cheaply renewed as they become worn and defective.

The tubular handle 39 being hinged or pivswe'eper, can be raised-or lowered and held at whatever angle maybe most convenient axis in the shankpf the nozzle to accommo date the hose connection without tipping the back plate or'lifting any part of the shoes or bearings out of contact with the floor or other surface over which the sweeper.

-oted with the nozzleto the back of the for theoperator,v and may beturn'ed on its is mov'ed. By turning the handle down, the sweeper may be thrust and operated under radiators, fixtures and. furniture in places which would be otheryvlse inaccessible, the

height or vertical dimension of the sweeper' when the handle'is-turned downbeing quite V small. The' channeld 'being arranged transversely to the normalidirection'of movement of the sweeper and capable; of effective operation when made of"con siderable length,

a wide swath is swept, and' dust and. dirt canbe removed from a -large area in a short time.'- ,Y a

In the operation of the sweeper it maybe moved over a floor orfother-surface' like a broom orbrush, in any di're'ctiom'? forward and backward "or-sidewise'in a rectilinear direction, or it. maybe given a' rotaryor;. i

gyratory movement, audit will {work effectively to take up and removedust 'andvdirt in whatever direction. it is moved as long as the shoes or hearings on opposite sides of 'the channel are" held in'contact with the floor or other s' l'irface and a sufiiciently' strong draft or current of air is maintained 1 through said channel.

Theouteredges of the shoes 0 and c are be-veledyor; inclined downwardly and .in-

wardly toward the channel d so that in, moving the sweeper over a floor or other surface, dust and dirt are more readily drawn by the natural leakage of air underneath the shoes into said channel, the influence 'or effect of the air draft extending to the outer edges of the shoes. Litter such as scraps of paper and the-like, too largeor'coarse to be conducted. off through the exhaust connection of the sweeper, willin the ordinary opera tion of the device, he pushed forward by the advancing shoe or bearing 0 or c, and thus separated from the dust, and dirt which is dra'wn underneath' the shoes into the chanml 03. The rubbingv action, of the shoes or bearings of the sweeper serves to detachand u nected with the back,

- ecting over the open end of .of a

loosen mud or dirt which may adhere to the carpet, floor or other surface over which. the sweeper is moved, so that as the channel (I passes over it, it will betaken up and carried away. Variouschanges in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the principle and intended scope of the invention.

. I claim: 1-II1 a; vacuum sweeper the combination of a back having a channel extending across the under side from end to end and open a-t'the ends to the atmosphere and guides parallel with said channel, flat bearings removably fitted in said? sides of said channel, an operating handle connected with said back, and an exhaust connection communicating with said channel, substantially as described.

2. In a vacuum sweeper the combination of a back having a channel extending across the under side from end to end and open at the ends to the atmosphere and guides parallel with said channel, flat bearings re movably fitted in said guides on opposite sides of said channel, locks'for holding said hearings ,in place anoperating handle conand an exhaust connection communicating with said'channel,

substantially as described.

3. In a vacuum sweeper the combination of a back having in the under side a, transverse channel open at one end, a brush prosaid channel, an" operating. handle connected with the back, and an exhaust connection communieating with said channel at a distance from its open end, substantially as described.

In a vacuum sweeper the combination back having a transverse channel in the under side open atone end the'reot, a removable brush detachably fastened to the back and-adapted to project outwardly over guides on opposite and forming an exhaust conduit the open endpf said channel, an operating handle connected with the back, and an em haust connection communicating with said channel at a distance from its open end, substantially as described.

5. In a vacuum sweeper the comb'ii'iation of a back having a transverse channel in the under side open at one end thereof, a bristle brush attached to the back and projecting at, an inclination outwardly and downwardly therefrom over the open end of said channel, a handle connected with the back, and an. exhaust connection co1nmnnieating with said channel at a distance from its open end, substantially as described.

6. In a vacluim'sweeper the: combination ofa back having a transverse channel in the under side open at the ends thereof to .-the atmosphere, and flat bearing shoes on opposite sides ofsaidchannel, a transverse cylindrical socket on the upper side of the back communicating through an opening therein with said channel, a cylindrical nozzle fitted to rock in said socket and having an orifice registering with said ophning, and a tubular handle connected with the nozzle therefrom, substantially as described.

7. In a vacuum sweeper the combination of a back having a channel across the lower side thereof, removable shoes forming e:\- tended'bearings on opposite sides of the channel, locking devices, for holding-the shoes in place with relation to the back, an operatini handle'connected with the back, and an ex aust connection communicating with said channel, substant ally as described. In witness whereof I hereto athx my nature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK J. MATOHETTE. Witnesses;

CHAS. L. Goes, ARTHUR J. ZEALLEY.

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